Madam, – The solution to the apparently separate problems of what to do with the Seanad, and how to harness the Diaspora, is to combine them.
The Seanad should be elected by Irish citizens living outside the State. Having a wholly different electorate, it would not be a superfluous echo of the first chamber, nor an annex to it, dominated by Dáil parties which would use the Seanad as a nursery or sinecure. The Diaspora is keen to vote, is crucial to our economic recovery, and largely determines our image in the wider world “wherever green is worn”. Rather than providing only symbols – such as a candle in the window – let us provide rights, such as the right to vote, for all citizens!
That would be a flame worth keeping alive, worthy of the original vision of a true republic, in accordance with which, it would also offer non-threatening substantive inclusivity to those in Northern Ireland. – Yours, etc,